Its that time of year again, you know what I am talking about…. tax time. It’s time to start pulling together everything you need and start figuring out what you are supposed to do. Catch up on tax changes and everything else that goes with it.

I decided to write about this because guess what I did over the weekend, Taxes. I hate doing taxes. I am happy that my taxes aren’t complex, I can generally gather everything I need over one weekend and get it organized. Then I have to catch up on the Tax laws. I own a hybrid do I get a break? I gave a lot of money to a charitable organization but, in some cases I received “compensation”. I donated time, and materials. On and on, what a pain. How much did I deduct last year? Where are those darn estimated payment receipts?

What ever happened to the champions of flat tax or my favorite–sales tax? The government is really good at hiding our taxes from us, they spread the load out and most people just don’t realize their total tax burden. The new tax law that allows me to deduct sales tax is pretty awesome, I live in a 9% sales tax area. Wish I kept up on these things during the year. I guess next year I get to add up all my receipts, that should be fun.

To top it off, I get audited almost every year. It’s pretty darned amazing and not feeling so random. I think I am 8/10 over the past decade. Wish I were this lucky with the lottery, of course I have to buy tickets first.

I am on a pretty comfortable basis with the IRS, it generally goes something like this. The IRS sends me a letter saying they want to do an audit on me. I just wait until they send me the results, (fortunately I have not had to go to the office yet). They ask for some extra documents now and again and then tell me what I owe extra or what I am getting back. If I owe, its generally not enough to motivate me to protest and go to the office (They are good at finding this threshold).

I was speaking with a friend about this and I was told that generally once you get on the audit list you will stay there. It’s easier for the IRS because they know your tax history. Seems to kinda defeat the purpose though.

As I said, I am glad that I don’t have complex taxes. My deductions are all pretty straightforward and I can generally collect everything in one weekend and do my taxes on another. This whole tax thing is still a giant pain. I am looking forward to next year when I can add up my sales taxes and then I will really know my exact tax burden. Of course I am going to need an accountants hat, one of those adding machines with the pull handle and I might want to throw in some Thorazine for good measure.